In the American Southwest, Man’s Impact Looms Large

There’s a long history of photographers using their medium to make statements about environmental conservation. What better way to discuss the awe-inspiring force of nature than to be confronted by it visually? With average temperatures rising annually, the uncertain fate of the EPA, and the recent approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction, this is a conversation that feels especially poignant right now.

Photographer Jim Mangan traveled to Nevada and Utah to lens a photo essay on man’s imprint on nature. What he found? That man’s footprint looms large: Open landscapes are shown plowed through with pathways, mountains, bordered with electric wire, and an ice-cream shop that’s been quite literally plopped in the middle of nowhere.

While a sense of decay and human infringement pervades in these pictures, Mangan actually finds hope in our ability to reverse the wrongs we’ve committed against the Earth in the past, through the marked increase in political actions, and the dissent that’s been voiced against the current administration. As Mangan sees it, “people can ultimately voice their feelings—what they think is right, and what they think is wrong.”